


Second Chances

by stardustpaths



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Archangel Castiel, Chance Meetings, Commander Dean, M/M, Mass Effect - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-20 18:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3660855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustpaths/pseuds/stardustpaths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After two years of absence Dean is back from the dead, ready to fight the Collectors. A lot has changed since the crash of his ship, and nobody knows what happened to Castiel while he was gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday [Julia](http://closertoblasphemy.tumblr.com/)!

The surroundings smoothly changed around Dean, shaping into a vast, dimly lit room. It would have been empty if not for a single chair, turned away to face the window. He could see a massive, red star outside; its surface constantly moving, burning brightly.

Dean wasn’t really there. He wasn’t even sure where _there_ was. Maybe it was for the best. He didn’t know what he’d do if he ended up in the same room with the yellow eyed man currently occupying the chair.

The truth was Dean would gladly kill the Illusive Man in different circumstances. Unfortunately the head of Cerberus had the resources and money he needed. If only there were a chance of getting the same help from the Council or the Alliance, he would be out of Cerberus’ clutches as fast as possible, but everyone else preferred to believe the threat didn’t exist. Of course, it was easier than believing in something bigger behind a bunch of human colonies suddenly going missing.

Dean felt anger bubbling under his skin. He hated that working with Cerberus was his best option, probably even more than he hated the fact Cerberus was the only reason he was alive. _Again_. It still made him lightheaded to think he’d spent the last two years unconscious, somewhere in a lab, slowly being brought back to life. It was even harder to believe Cerberus had actually succeeded.

Being back was difficult to get used to. He’d lost his ship, his crew and his friends; his body wasn’t exactly the same as before. The procedures left a web of thin, red scars all over his skin, and his insides were now mostly made out of metal and synthetic components. He wondered whether it made him closer to a machine than an actual human being. That would be ironic given his track record with synthetics.

At least his mind was still his own - it seemed that nobody had tampered with it, and he was thankful for that. Although he wasn’t sure he would be able to tell the difference if someone had tried. The thought gave him chills every time.

The Illusive Man didn’t seem to acknowledge his presence.

“What do you want?” Dean asked bluntly.

Apparently it was the right thing to do, because the man stood up and turned around, giving Dean an approving smile. “Winchester. I’ve read the report Ruby sent to me. You did a good job at Freedom’s Progress.”

“Good job?” Dean snorted. “All the colonists were gone before we got there. We didn’t save them.”

The colony of Freedom’s Progress had been his first mission after coming back from the dead, and it definitely didn’t feel like a success. The people had disappeared just like they had in other colonies before. The only bright side was that he’d bumped into Charlie, who had been leading her own investigation there. It had been a true relief to finally see a friendly face and to know that Charlie was all right.

“You’re right, you didn’t save them,” the Illusive Man nodded, folding his arms behind his back. “But you gained valuable information that’s going to help us save other colonies in the future. Now that we know we’re fighting the Collectors, we can look for a way to defeat them.”

“Well, that’s just not good enough for me,” Dean snapped. He knew from past experience Cerberus never cared much for the individual lives. He wasn’t going to become like them. The lives of people from Freedom’s Progress mattered more than statistical numbers in a report.

The Illusive Man sighed, ignoring Dean’s outburst, and opened his omni-tool. “I have some dossiers for you. You will need the best people in the galaxy to win this fight and Cerberus is going to make sure you know who to look for.”

“I already have people I can trust. And I want to work with _them_ ,” Dean said firmly, folding his arms.

“I don’t think you understand, Winchester,” the man hissed. “Your _friends_ are not available and we can’t afford to wait until something changes.”

Dean closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. It was hard to believe his old squad wouldn’t be there to help. Working with Cerberus would suck a little less if they had his back. He’d already asked Charlie to come with him. She wanted to, but her mission for the Migrant Fleet had to come first.

There hadn’t been enough time to talk about their old ship, especially with Ruby breathing down his neck. He still had no idea what had happened to everyone else. The only thing he knew was that most of his people had survived the crash. Great news, but not detailed enough given that two years had passed since then.

“What about Charlie?” he asked finally. Her mission couldn’t take forever. “We didn’t talk much on Freedom's Progress, but I know she’d help as soon as she has the time.”

“My point stands still. Your quarian friend is busy,” the Illusive Man said, studying Dean carefully. After a moment of silence he shook his head with a sigh. “I’m not promising anything, but we can see about that when she returns. You still need other people, though.”

That was something. Not much, but something. Maybe Dean could get his squad back after all.

“Okay, do you know what happened to Bela Talbot?” he tried next.

“My sources say that the asari works for the Shadow Broker now. I don’t think she can be trusted if that’s true.”

Dean felt a pang of disappointment. He wasn’t in a position to judge anyone, but a lot had to change in those two years if Bela had decided to join the Shadow Broker. It didn’t even sound like her, but why would the Illusive Man lie? Bela was too good to discard her without a valid reason.

“Victor Henriksen?” he asked, bracing himself for another portion of bad news.

“The turian returned to his work at C-Sec over a year ago,” the Illusive Man informed him, visibly growing impatient. “I suppose he wouldn’t appreciate Cerberus’ involvement in your return, not to mention we’re not going to make an offer to a C-Sec officer.”

It stung, but that was actually a good point. Dean wasn’t surprised Victor had gotten back his old job; keeping order on the Citadel and making sure C-Sec actually helped people was always a high priority for him. It was probably for the best if he stayed there instead of jumping after Dean into another mess. Especially considering Dean was working outside of the law now.

Dean swallowed. There was one more person left. “And Castiel James?”

He wasn’t sure why he asked about Castiel last. Cas had been his closest friend, the one who had always been _there_ , who kept him level-headed when things got bad. Dean missed his grumpiness, his weird sense of humor, the rumble of his voice. And maybe a part of him didn’t want to hear what had happened to Castiel in case it wasn’t anything good.

The Illusive Man grimaced. “He left the Alliance soon after your death. I’m afraid nobody knows where he is now or whether he’s still alive.”

Dean’s stomach dropped rapidly, leaving a sudden feeling of emptiness. He didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t this. At least with everyone else he got _something_ , a scrap of information allowing him some kind of closure. With Cas there was literally nothing.

Keeping his face neutral was a challenge, but Dean managed somehow. He wouldn’t give the Illusive Man the pleasure of seeing how much lack of information about Cas bothered him.

“Fine, I’ll take a look at those dossiers,” he said with a sigh. It felt like giving up, but he still had a job to do, he couldn’t let his feelings get in the way.

He just hoped that Castiel was okay, wherever he was.

\---

Dean’s heart beat fast as he leapt to the side, an omni-blade missing him by inches. Panting, he turned around and shot the attacking man in the head before the next blow could reach him. To his right Ruby threw another merc up in the air, making him brutally hit the ground a few seconds later. Jake got two more, firing a few rapid rounds with vicious precision. It was surprising how well the three of them worked together. Both Jake and Ruby were Cerberus operatives, but Dean was slowly learning he could rely on them in battle. He still missed his old squad though, it wasn’t going to go away that easily.

They were making their way through a small bridge in Kima District on Omega and the whole place was swarmed with mercenaries. It seemed that local gangs were willing to hire about anyone able to hold a gun just to get rid of one man. A man who was currently shooting everything that moved from the window on the other side of the bridge. And Dean had to admit, the guy had a great aim, the mercs around were dropping like flies.

The desperation of the gangs made Dean’s job a lot easier, he just had to pose as one of the mercenaries and nobody asked any questions, as long as they believed he was going to shoot where they pointed. Of course, it was a lie. Dean wasn’t there to kill the man everyone else was after. He was there to offer him a job.

The guy was one of the people on the Illusive Man’s list. His dossier called him _Archangel_ and described him as an exceptional tactician with biotic abilities of unknown strength, targeting local gangs with his operations. Looking around, Dean could tell he successfully pissed everyone off. The thing was, that was basically all he knew and the lack of more thorough info annoyed him like hell. He didn’t even have Archangel’s real name.

Another merc advanced on him, and Dean unceremoniously kicked him off the bridge. For now he, Jake and Ruby were still in one piece, so he didn’t have that much to complain about. That said, he would feel much better if he knew what exactly they were getting themselves into.

He really wished he didn’t have to bother with this. The Collectors snatched people away right and left, and he was wasting his time, fighting someone else’s fight. It wasn’t what he signed up for.

The Illusive Man had had Dean’s ship rebuilt and had gotten him the Harvelles back on board, but the dossiers were still pure bullshit and nothing was going to change that. Having back the Impala, his favorite medic, and one of the best pilots in the galaxy wasn’t enough to make Dean trust the Illusive Man and his judgment.

And okay, the first guy they’d picked up, a salarian doctor named Ash, seemed to be fine, if a little weird, but now they had to deal with three gangs at once just to get to one man. Not to mention one of the remaining dossiers was on a fucking convict currently held on a prison ship. Dean didn’t even know where the Illusive Man was finding all those people.

For the thousandth time he thought about his old team, about Castiel. He wished that Cas was be there. Everything would be so much better with him. But there was no Cas, and Dean probably would never even see him again. That was just how life went.

Reaching the wall of the Archangel’s base was a slight relief, but they still had to convince the guy to come with them and not die on the way out. Dean hoped it wasn’t too much to ask for everything to go right.

They entered the building with caution, crossing what seemed to be a living room, and quickly moved to the upper floor. The whole place was oddly quiet in contrast with the last minutes of constant shots and screams. For some reason it creeped Dean out.

There was a dark silhouette of a man in the room at the end of the corridor, the light coming from the window behind him. Dean silently moved that way, signaling Ruby and Jake to follow, and stopped at the entrance. The man stood with his back turned to them. It was reckless; he wore full body armor, but it wouldn’t be enough if someone chose to shoot him right now. Why wasn’t he paying attention to them?

Dean cleared his throat. “Archangel?” he asked loudly.

Archangel turned around, pulling his helmet off, and Dean felt the whole world turning upside down, leaving him dizzy and confused. It had to be some kind of a trick. Or maybe he was seeing things. Because there was _no way_ Castiel was actually standing there, alive and relatively well. Good things didn’t happen just like that.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas said calmly, like it was the most natural thing in the world, like Dean hadn’t spent the last two years being dead, and the last few weeks missing him like crazy.

“Cas? What are you doing here?” Dean mumbled, lowering his gun and moving closer. A wave of relief washed over him; it felt like he’d been holding his breath since the moment the Illusive Man had told him no one knew where Castiel was, and now finally he could let it out because Cas was there, standing right in front of him.

Castiel had bags under his eyes, and his hair was longer than Dean remembered, plastered with sweat to his forehead. He hadn’t shaved in a few days, his stubble slowly turning into a beard. A drastic contrast with the clean-shaven Alliance soldier in Dean’s memory.

Dean really wanted to give him a hug.

“I’m just killing time,” Cas said with a sigh, leaning against the wall next to the window, his shoulders slumped. He looked very tired, like the weight of the whole world was dragging him down. “You were dead,” he added.

There was no point in lying about that. Not to Cas. “I was.” Dean tried to smile. “I’m feeling better now. And I need your help, but we probably should get out of here before discussing any details.”

As soon as he said that, a doubt appeared in his mind. What if Cas wouldn’t want to work with him? What if he’d leave as soon as he heard the whole story? His absence would hurt even more than before, paired with rejection. Dean wasn’t sure how he would deal with that.

“I’m assuming this is _the_ Castiel who was on your squad two years ago?” Ruby asked, her arms folded, eyeing Castiel warily. Dean had almost forgotten she and Jake were still standing behind him.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Cas, this is Ruby, she was the head of the project of uh… _restoring_ me,” he said pointing at her. “And this is Jake, former Alliance soldier, like you.” For now Dean preferred to leave out the part that they both worked for Cerberus. It wasn’t a good time for a discussion about that.

Cas didn’t say anything, staring at Dean with a hard to read expression.

“Uh. Are you okay?” Dean asked awkwardly. Maybe it was a normal reaction to seeing your dead friend alive, but for some reason he felt extremely vulnerable under Cas’ gaze. Castiel had clearly mastered its intensity during the last two years.

“I thought I would never see you again,” Cas said, something close to amazement in his voice.

Dean felt a lump clogging his throat, making it hard to speak. “Hey, it’s not that easy to get rid of me,” he grinned, trying to ignore it.

Cas huffed, finally breaking the eye contact. “If being dead for two years isn’t enough to stop you, then I suspect we’re stuck with you forever,” he said in a gravely serious voice. “It’s good to see you, Dean,” he added softer after a pause. “This… all of this,” he made a vague gesture with his gun, “is hard work. Especially on my own.”

“Well, it looks like you’ve managed to piss off every major organization on Omega.” Dean moved to the window and looked outside. Even though the bridge was empty at the moment, not counting the piled bodies, it wouldn’t stay like that for long.

“It wasn’t easy,” Cas replied with a crooked smile, his head resting against the wall. “But it seems they finally hate me enough to team up against me.”

“Sounds like an achievement,” Dean snorted. He still wasn’t sure what exactly Castiel was doing there, but the questions could wait. “The mercs are probably going to be back soon. Do you have a way out?”

Cas shook his head. “The only way out of this building is currently the bridge. It saved my life so far, but it’s not going to help us now.” He gave Dean another long glance, calculating something. “I think we should wait here and finish them off as they come. With the three of you we actually stand a chance.”

It wasn’t a very elaborate plan, but it could definitely work. After another few minutes of planning, they took their positions next to the windows, waiting for a new wave of mercenaries to hit. Right now the bridge was still empty and quiet; regrouping was taking the gangs longer than it should. Dean didn’t like it. Something big was going to happen, he could feel it in his gut.

“So, how did you end up on Omega?” he asked Castiel, focusing his eyes on the bridge.

Castiel let out a long sigh. “After you died the Alliance just wasn’t enough anymore. I felt trapped, doing pointless assignments and drowning in bureaucracy,” he said bitterly. “I got tired of it. Leaving seemed like a good choice and I thought that at least here I could make a difference, do something good for a change.”

A warm feeling spread through Dean’s chest. Making a difference. Of course Cas would do something like that. “And that’s how you became _Archangel_ , huh?”

“People here gave me that name. I think it’s their way to say they’re grateful for taking the gangs off their backs,” Castiel explained, a note of embarrassment in his voice. “I’m. Uh. I’m still just Castiel to you.”

Dean smiled, giving him a quick glance. “I don’t know, I kind of like Archangel more,” he teased.

A sudden movement interrupted them, shifting their attention back to the bridge. Groups of mercenaries emerged from the buildings on the other side, followed by a bunch of mechs and vorcha. With those numbers against the four of them it wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but it was still doable, at least as long as they held their position.

Castiel took down a vorcha with his first shot. Dean, Ruby and Jake joined him moments later, systematically wiping out the flood of opponents. Dean wondered whether the gangs would finally run out of people at some point. To tell the truth it couldn’t come soon enough. They were coming so fast he hardly had time to change thermal clips in his gun.

It was hard to imagine that Cas had survived through this on his own. An impressive achievement, even for someone as skilled as Castiel. Dean was thankful he hadn’t get himself killed just before their arrival.

After half an hour or so the neverending influx of mercenaries started to waver. Dean could already feel that the end of the battle was close. The remaining mercs weren’t going to last long. Soon the four of them would be able to leave this hole behind. And he would finally get to spend some time with Cas.

The gunship came out of nowhere. Dean barely managed to hide before the first rocket hit, filling his ears with ringing. He looked around in a daze. Ruby sat panting behind a bookshelf on the other side of the room. Jake was in the middle, hiding behind a row of cupboards. Cas was nowhere to be seen.

The next rocket blew up close to Dean, sending debris up in the air. There was still no sign of Castiel.

“CAS!” he shouted, barely hearing his own voice.

No answer. Dean wasn’t sure he would hear it anyway.

There was nothing else he could do as long as the ship was attacking. He stuck out his head and shot a few rounds, aiming for the cockpit. It didn’t do much.

The third rocket hit in the middle of the room, sending Jake out of his cover. He joined Ruby behind the bookshelf.

Dean fired another round. At the same time Ruby hit the engines with her biotics. It worked; the gunship tilted to the side, hanging askew in the air. One more push from Ruby sent it back, rotating until it hit the wall on the other side of the bridge.

The remaining mercenaries either ran away or were killed in the next few seconds. Everything was over.

Crippled with fear, Dean rushed to the place where he last saw Castiel before the ship attacked them. Cas was not far from there, lying on the floor, his left side bloody and battered. He wasn’t moving and Dean’s heart almost stopped.

“Shit, he’s losing a lot of blood.” Jake crouched next to Dean. “He’s not gonna make it.”

Cas’ eyes opened rapidly, and he looked straight at Dean, desperately trying to catch a breath. Dean squeezed his good arm, like this small gesture could anchor Castiel in this world, not letting him die.

“Cas, don’t you dare to die here, you understand?” he demanded. He couldn’t lose Cas right after he got him back. “Ruby, radio Jo. We’re getting out of here.”

\---

Dean paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the med bay, his heart close to jumping out of his chest. He’d rather be inside, but Ellen had threatened she would kick his ass if he entered while she and Ash were working. She hadn’t said anything about standing right outside the door though, so he wasn’t going anywhere until he knew whether Cas was going to be okay or not.

A few crewmembers cast him worried looks from the mess hall, but he ignored them, his thoughts focused on Castiel. His chest clenched painfully, making it hard to breathe, the feeling of helplessness spreading through his whole body. He wanted to scream. Or punch something. But it would be way too unprofessional even in this situation, so he just continued pacing angrily.

Cas _had to_ be all right. It was hard to imagine a life without him.

Ages later the door finally opened. Ash and Ellen walked out, both looking exhausted, but not particularly grim. Dean counted it as a good sign. Castiel was still alive.

“How is he?” he asked, looking nervously between the two of them.

“He’ll definitely live,” Ash replied with a shrug.

Ellen rubbed her forehead with a sigh. “We’ve done all we could for him, but his condition was really bad and this is no hospital. The surgery and cybernetics should give him full functionality, but--”

Before she had a chance to finish, the door opened once more, Castiel standing in them, leaning heavily against the doorframe. He seemed a little dazed, but when his eyes landed on Dean, his expression immediately brightened.

“Dean,” he said, his voice even lower than usual. His left ear and most of the left cheek were covered in dressings, which went further down his neck, and disappeared under a gray t-shirt he was wearing. His hair was ruffled and the shadows under his eyes had gotten even bigger since the last time Dean saw him. He looked completely miserable and Dean couldn’t stop thinking how much he loved him.

He cleared his throat, trying to hide how emotional he was. “Cas! You’re up already?”

Suddenly Cas faltered, slumping down the frame. Dean immediately moved closer, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him. It clearly was too early for Castiel to be walking around.

“Go back to bed James, or I will carry you there,” Ellen growled, furrowing her brow. She gave Cas one of her scariest looks, and to be honest Dean was very glad he wasn’t the one receiving it.

He shifted to Cas’ side and pulled him gently back to the med bay. “I’ll go with him to make sure that he’s resting,” he said, giving Ellen his most charming smile. She just huffed, rolling her eyes, and headed for the crew quarters, Ash following behind.

“How bad is it?” Castiel asked, sitting on one of the beds when the door shut behind them. “They didn’t want to tell me anything.”

“Well, scars are kind of sexy, you know,” Dean replied with a half-smile, sitting next to him.

Cas chuckled. “Don’t make me laugh, I still feel like my face is barely holding together.” He paused, his expression becoming more serious. “Dean, I know you’re working for Cerberus.”

Dean wasn’t sure how that information already reached Castiel. Maybe Ash and Ellen talked about it, maybe it was something else. It didn’t matter now. “Look, I’m not happy about it either,” he grimaced. “And yeah, they’re the ones behind bringing me back to life, but I wouldn’t say I’m working for them. This is _my_ ship with _my_ rules and I agreed to work with them only because there’s no other way I can do something about the Collectors attacking human colonies.”

Castiel frowned skeptically. “I don’t think this is wise, Dean. After everything they did in the past… their sick experiments, the murders; they even tried to kill _you_. All in the name of human improvement. That is an awful track record.”

“You’re right, Cas,” Dean sighed, suddenly feeling drained. There was a deep ache in his bones that wasn’t there just moments ago. “That’s why I need people I can trust. I need _you_ ,” he said, looking Cas in the eyes.

A heavy silence fell between them, Dean once again scared Castiel would say no. Actually, he almost expected him to say no. Cas would never agree to work with Cerberus. Why would he? It would make perfect sense if he despised Dean now and wanted to leave the ship as soon as possible.

“Okay. I’ll stay with you,” Castiel finally stated, stopping Dean in his thoughts.

“Okay?” Dean asked, surprised, suspecting that maybe he didn’t hear that right.

“Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like it,” Cas replied, pausing to take a deep breath. “But I thought I lost you. When you died I thought we lost our chance to be together. I don’t want it to happen again,” he declared earnestly. “There was always something between us, wasn’t there?”

Dean licked his lips, his heart pounding in his chest. Castiel was right. There was always something between them, they just never had guts to talk about it. It still scared him, to tell the truth. There were so many things that could go wrong. “Are you sure you want this?” he asked. “It’s been two years.”

Cas took his hand and squeezed it softly. “I’m sure I want to try. Of course, only if you want it too.”

“Yeah, Cas. I want it,” Dean smiled, trying to stop his voice from trembling. It was really happening. A few minutes ago he wasn’t sure whether Cas would live and now they were discussing a relationship. He could barely wrap his head around it.

“I would kiss you now but I’m afraid it’d break your face,” he said with a grin, only half-joking.

“I think I’m willing to take that risk.” Castiel leaned closer, gently pressing his lips to Dean’s. It wasn’t much, it wasn’t the kind of a big kiss they always show in movies, but for a moment Cas was Dean’s whole world. And just like that Dean felt he could face anything, as long as Castiel was at his side. No matter how many battles lay ahead, everything was going to be all right. It had to be.

 


End file.
